Inter War Period
After the Great War an effective advertising campaign by the Great Western Railway Company was responsible for making Torquay a major resort. The interest in Torquay culminated on August Bank Holiday in 1938, just before the outbreak of World War II, when 20,000 passengers arrived in Torquay station, followed by 50 trains the next day.
During this period Torquay also encountered political developments, with Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists attempting to move into the region following great success in the city of Plymouth where the Union had upwards of 1,500 members in 1933, and Mosley spoke to packed meetings in Plymouth's Guildhall and the Drill Hall in Millbay to great acclaim. However, the Torquay branch of the Fascists never took off to the same extent and at its peak in 1933 only had 34 members. By 1935 it had been absorbed back into the Plymouth branch.
An odd coincidence with the growth of the fascist party in Torquay, was the presence of A.K. Chesterton as editor of the Torquay Times. Chesterton played a prominent role in far right-wing British politics over the next three decades, founding the League of Empire Loyalists and co-founding the National Front which is still active in modern times and he was a prominent figure in the Fascist Union before a schism with Mosley and his departure in 1938. However during the period of Fascist activity in the resort Chesterton had already departed for London and appears to have played little part in the fascist attempt to cultivate support in the town.
Read more about this topic: History Of Torquay
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